Midnight in Siberia

A Train Journey Into the Heart of Russia

"After two and a half years as NPR's Moscow bureau chief, David Greene travels across the country--a 6,000-mile journey by rail, from Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok--to speak with ordinary Russians about how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years. Reaching beyond the headline-grabbing protests in Moscow, Greene speaks with a group of singing babushkas from Buranovo, a teenager hawking 'space rocks' from last spring's meteor shower in Chelyabinsk, and activists battling for environmental regulation in the pollution-choked town of Baikalsk"-- Provided by publisher.

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David Greene, a co-host of NPR's Morning Edition, spent several years based in Russia, and in Midnight in Siberia, he describes his eye-opening travels along the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Traveling third class from Moscow to Vladivostok, he meets ordinary but fascinating people -- from singing babushkas to entrepreneurial teens -- and shares food and time with them. Using this trip as a lens, he also focuses on the challenges faced by 21st-century Russia. For another entertaining look at this vast, storied place, try Ian Frazier's acclaimed Travels in Siberia.

Homa7
Apr 23, 2015

Midnight in Siberia by David Green

NPR correspondent David Greene gets modern Russia to life as he and one of his Russian coworkers takes a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Moscow to Vladivostak. He is either freezing or on an overheated train meets many fascinating people and each chapter is dedicated to a specific person they meet on the train or have an appointment to meet, he is bewildered despite their unsatisfactory towards their government , jailing of people with no proof they do not rise up and bring a democracy to their country. One of the more surprising meet ups was the son of the man who invented the Kalashnakov. I found the book to be both engaging and worth reading.